An investigation on the well-being of entrepreneurs and their spouses in the Netherland.

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An investigation on the well-being of entrepreneurs

and their spouses in the Netherland.

By Meiya Cheng

s2611759

Thesis MSc BA Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to look into the profile matching between entrepreneur and spouse. Existing literature is predominately about certain characteristics or interaction, but doesn’t mention profile matching. Thus, a research gap exists concerning the well-being of entrepreneurs and spouses through the matching profiles. This thesis attempts to fill this gap by means of case study on Chinese entrepreneurs and their spouses in the Netherlands.

This thesis distinguishes two couple profiles: couples working together and couples working separate. There are some interesting results about matching profiles of entrepreneurs and spouses on their well-being. Among the cases there seem to be many similarities and only few differences between these two couple profiles. However, the odds for experiencing higher level of well-being seems to be greater when couples work together.

Key words: well-being, entrepreneur, spouse, chinese-dutch, marital interaction, marital relationship, couples profile

Supervisor : dr. ir. H. (Haibo) Zhou Co-assessor: F. (Florian) Noseleit Date Deadline submission: October 21, 2015

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1. Introduction

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2011 (Lukes & Jakl, 2012), entrepreneurship plays a critical role to the development of a society. The number of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the EU, Japan and US accounts approximately 99% of all enterprises (Greene & Mole, 2006). Therefore, it is imperative to know what has an influence on the success of entrepreneurs because they create (new) activity, which might create value for the society.

To be an entrepreneur is a demanding occupation with high workload, stress and financial uncertainty. This can have an influence on the people involved and therefore, a critical individual in an entrepreneurial life is often the significant other or in other words the spouse of the owner/entrepreneur (Williams, 2012). The article of Williams (2012) used several examples that indicate that spouses often need to bear with the consequences of the decisions of the entrepreneur. This highlights the importance of the spouse on the entrepreneur and that it is not easy to be the spouse. For example entrepreneurs often do not have time to spend with their spouses and/or children or to assist with their household responsibilities (Pfeffer & Ross, 1982). Which leads to unequal distribution of household tasks and less happiness for women (Acitelli & Antonucci, 1994). This might highlight the negative aspects of being an entrepreneur’s spouse. However, Williams (2012) gave successful examples with spouses who had a positive influence on the entrepreneur’s success. This raises the question whether the well-being of an entrepreneur can be predicted by the spouse and the other way around. Having a spouse, who is willing to bear with the actions of the entrepreneur, can reduce possible conflicts compared to a spouse who is not willing. This can have an influence on the entrepreneur’s mood/feelings, which in turn can influence the creativity of the entrepreneur (Baron & Tang, 2011) and even its success. No wonder the saying “Behind every great man there is a great woman” (Frost, 1945). Therefore, it has been argued that it is essential to have a good spouse for the success of an entrepreneur (Harrison, 2013). However, this makes you wonder whether the spouse is happy.

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4 gender of the entrepreneur? Kirkwood (2009) investigated the different expectations, which a male or/and female entrepreneur has, of their spouse when starting a business. A female entrepreneur takes the possible effect on their spouse in consideration and they expect to get advice, support and encouragement from their spouse (Kirkwood, 2009). A male entrepreneur on the other hand assumes their spouse will be supportive when he decides to starts own business (Kirkwood, 2009).

A different study found that having an educated wife could increase the productivity of men, particularly in the case of entrepreneurial families (Wong, 1986). However, the other way around is not the case, female entrepreneurs benefit relatively more from their own education than having a husband with education (Wong, 1986). Therefore, it can be said that a spouse can be seen as a resource. The effects of the resourcefulness (financial resources and information resources) of a spouse are predominantly positive. Bernasco (1994) said, “the more resourceful an individual’s spouse the larger his or her success at work” (Bernasco, 1994: 189). This is supported by the study of Blanchflower and Oswald (1990) who found a positive relationship between the size of inheritance of the spouse and entering self-employment.

There are several studies that indicate that spousal characteristics such as gender, education and work experience do have an influence on the entrepreneur’s success. However, there is hardly any literature on investigating the matching between entrepreneur and spouse. In other words, how the matching profile between entrepreneur and spouse affect the success of the entrepreneur.

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5 done by collecting information about the characteristics of the spouse and entrepreneur and what for influence it has on the well-being in existing literature.

In order to research this, the following central research question is formulated:

“How does the profile pattern between entrepreneur and his/her spouse affect their well-being?”

The result of this research will benefit other researchers to understand which profile pattern will affect the well-being of the entrepreneur and spouse positively.

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2. Literature review

The purpose of this section is to review the literature on what affects the well-being of entrepreneurs and spouses in general.

Every individual is different; the certain personal characteristics and circumstances makes them who they are. The well-being of a person can be seen as ones satisfaction in life. The model of work-family conflict (Appendix A) shows that conflicts influence life satisfaction (Kopelman, Greenhaus & Connolly, 1983). The research of Foley and Powel (1997) agrees that high work-family conflicts have a negative influence on life satisfactions and business success. As mentioned by Parasuraman, Purohit & Godshalk (1996) work-family conflict mediates between several variables and entrepreneurial success and well-being. The most important propositions which was grounded by literature are: (1) when there is a low similarity in the couples then there will be high level of work-family conflicts, which (2) leads to lower satisfactions. (3) A lower satisfaction leads to a lower quality of marriage which (4) leads to less successfulness of business (Foley & Powell, 1997). This research determined several inputs, which influence work-family conflict. These are: Family background, demographics, skills/abilities, personal and social identities, role in starting the business, exploitations for work-family balance (Foley & Powell, 1997). They also mention couple inputs, which are derived from the previous input, these are: decision making process, parental responsibilities, mutuality of support and role overload (Foley & Powell, 1997). Based on these inputs, the main key points that will be described of the individual are background, personality, and role of the spouse.

2.1 Background

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7 divorced parents are less likely to get married. When they do decide to marry, they will probably not marry someone who has a secondary education or more. On the other hand, when the divorced parents are highly educated and the individual as well, then the negative effect of divorced parents will decrease. They will prefer marrying someone who has similar taste, which can be explained by the research of Franklin, Janoff-Bulman & Roberts (1990) that individuals with divorced parents make the decision whom to marry by assessing trustworthiness of the other. It can be said that they are less optimistic about marriage and have lower trust in their spouse. However, for the individuals with non-divorced parents, they assess themselves for worthiness (Franklin, Janoff-Bulman & Roberts, 1990). Parents are also seen as an important resource for career choice irrespectively of gender and race (Otto, 2002). Especially parents who are self-employed are seen as a role model to become an entrepreneur (Pablo-Lerchundi, Morales-Alonso, & González-Tirados, 2015). However, when parents are in the civil service, the chances of the children becoming entrepreneurs are rather low (Pablo-Lerchundi, Morales-Alonso, & González-Tirados, 2015).

When only focussing on the gender, the perception of receiving and well-being of the wives are correlated (Acitelli & Antonucci, 1994). Acitelli and Antonucci (1994) also mentioned that the well-being of wives is correlated with the well-being of the husbands. So this means that if the wives receive more than the husbands, then their well-being will be more as well. Therefore, the perceived unfairness of household task distribution will lead to less happiness for female than male. In line with Acitelli and Antonucci (1994), life satisfaction of wives comes down to perceived labour and social support.

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8 working. This can be explained by childbirth. When they stop working, it is more difficult to go back into the workforce and it can lead to lower pay (Bernasco, 1994). This means that having a spouse who is an entrepreneur could be in their advantage. They might have more chance to having work where they can fall back on, which the entrepreneur will benefit from as well by having a more dedicated and reliable worker for his/her company. A recent research about the gender of the entrepreneur, mentioned that there is a difference in what a female and a male entrepreneur expects of his/her spouse when starting up a business. Male entrepreneurs assume their spouse will be supportive, while a female entrepreneur takes possible effects on her spouse into account first (Kirkwood, 2009). The result of meeting with expectations will lead to higher satisfaction. Which is assumed that it will lead to a healthy marriage and a successful business (Foley & Powell, 1997).

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9 one high earner, the two earners should have more income than one high earner. Therefore, having a stay at home spouse does not compensate the losses. Also it is harder for one who has not worked for an amount of time to find work (Jacob & Kleinert, 2014). According to Jacob and Kleinert (2014) to be long term unemployed will make it more difficult to find a job in the future. This is often the case for women. The working man with children and stay at home spouse are to be seen as the most satisfied in comparison with other men and women from other structures (Schneer & Reitman, 2002). Therefore, the satisfaction of one individual depends on the environment. It seems that parents are more satisfied than non-parents and that especially childless women are the least satisfied with life (Ferriman, Lubinski & Benbow, 2009). However according to the research of Nelson, Kushlev and Lyuubomirsky (2014), connecting happiness with children depends on the state of the parent(s). The parents should be satisfied with their basic needs, have enhances social roles, positive emotions and have experienced a greater meaning in life then having children will lead to more happiness (Nelson, Kushlev & Lyuubomirsky, 2014). Sharing positive work events will affect job satisfaction (Ilies, Keeney & Scott, 2011), especially when it concerns wage increase, which might even increase the relationship satisfaction with their spouse. However for women, positive work events can be predicted by satisfaction of their family and husband, but for men this is not the case (Dunn & O’brien, 2013). Also when women are happy on their workplace, it might reflect towards their family as well, which can lead to a happy husband (Dunn & O’brien, 2013). The study of Hahn & Dorman (2013) mentioned that one should be able to detach oneself from work environment and private/social environment. This means not bringing negative events from work to their home and vice versa. In combination with the research of Dunn and O’brien (2013) it can be implicated that men are better at detaching themselves.

2.2 Personality

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10 Personality has been mentioned to have a strong influence on well-being (Soto, 2014). According to the research of Higgs and Dulewicz (2014) there is a relationship between the Big Five personality and the subjective well-being. By experiencing higher level of well-being you can become more agreeable, conscientious, emotionally stable, and introvert (Soto, 2014). These findings are in line with research of Solomon and Jackson (2014), which used elements of the Big Five personality traits. The research mentions that dispositional characteristics of the spouse influence important factors of the professional life of the significant other (i.e. job satisfaction, income, and likelihood of being promoted). For having a spouse scoring high on conscientiousness will have a positive effect on job satisfaction and income level, therefore it can be said that a conscientiousness spouse can lead to occupational success. A conscientious person is someone who is organized, careful, responsible and has self-discipline (The big five personality traits). It can be implied that this person likes to do tasks. While the time is a key factor in order to have a balanced life (Liang, 2002), entrepreneurs put most of their time in their business, which leads to not having time to take care of e.g. household responsibilities (Pfeffer & Ross, 1982). A conscientious spouse would be more willing to take the responsibility on him/herself. However, previous research has shown that when an entrepreneur receives more household responsibilities, his/her job satisfaction decreases but the money he/she makes increases (Solomon & Jackson, 2014).

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11 The commitment of the spouse has influence on the entrepreneur’s well-being. Spouses with low commitment will add stress and create work-family conflicts during start-up (Van Auken & Werbel, 2006). Therefore, it can be said that successful businesses are likely to have a supportive family and an unsuccessful business a conflicting relationship (Van Auken & Werbel, 2006). However successful business not only depends on having a supportive family. According to the research of Lyubomirsky, King and Diener (2005) happy people leads to success. They mention that happy people are the most satisfied, and are tempt to seek goals. These people often have social skills, high activity level, are self-efficient and creative. Success comes often in an early stage for them, which reinforces their happiness at a later age due to having more resources that leads to more success (Lyubomirsky, King & Diener, 2005).

2.3 Role of spouse

This section is about the role of the significant other. What do they gain from each other? Does the role of a spouse have an influence on an individual’s well-being? As mentioned when men have a stay at home spouse, then they probably have a high income. So is it better or worse for our well-being to have a spouse with whom you can share the responsibilities with and have a family with?

For an entrepreneur a spouse can be seen as a potential resource (Davidson & Honig, 2003). Therefore entrepreneurs see their spouses or other family members who works within the business as stakeholders who have influence on several aspects, such as decision-making (Gundry & Welsch, 1994). Not only does the family work in the business, even two third of the business ventures have their financial resources from their family (Haynes et al., 1999). So there is an overlap between work and family, which means having potential conflicts is greater (Werbel & Danes, 2010). This consequently enhances the fact that spouses are indeed important stakeholders to take into account (Danes, 2002).

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12 is needed. Support of informal relations can influence positively on the start-ups success (Hormiga et al., 2011). Support can be seen as sources of labour, finances and emotional support from family members such as the spouse.

The research of Bernasco (1994) found that the resourcefulness of the spouse could increase the possibility to have a successful business, which indicates that a spouse working outside the business is beneficial. This will bring additional income, which is needed to satisfy the needs of the family. When needs cannot be satisfied due to the fact that they lack money, then it could have a negative influence on the well-being. When starting a (new) business it can increase financial pressure because it is costly and often begins with no/low income for the family. This means limiting their expenditures or find income elsewhere (Zuiker et al. 2002). It can also lead to pressure, which causes work-family conflict (Werbel & Danes, 2010). On the other hand it contradicts with the thought that a non-working spouse can take care of the household responsibility, which means that the entrepreneur can put more time into his/her business to make it successful (Pfeffer & Ross 1982). Tis is in line with educated and committed male executives who are married with a non-working wife receives a higher pay, and can be interpreted as more successful (Judge et al., 1995; Schneer & Reitman, 2002; Hewlett, 2002). Also educated and committed male executives who are married with a non-working wife receive a higher pay, which can be interpreted as more successful (Judge et al., 1995). However, non-working should not mean that they do not have an education.

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13 information provision for the firm” (Bratkovic et al., 2009:186). This research mainly describes that wives significantly influence a firm’s network performance and that they is present in all the networks of entrepreneur. Therefore, it can be argued that a spouse is an important resource in many ways.

Furthermore the finding of Casillas and Moreno (2010) mentioned that the involvement of the family has a boosting effect, which leads to better results. However being self-employed is demanding, you have long working hours, which can lead to neglecting family activities (Stoner & Chapin, 2005; Danes & Morgan, 2004; Pfeffer & Ross, 1982). Sometimes entrepreneurs even need to make a decision about who comes first: family or work (Longenecker, Moore & Petty, 2000). Therefore the spouses often need to deal more with family issues. However some entrepreneurs, who do not have enough time to spend on family, believe that dual working relationship will enhances their relationship with their spouse (Liang, 2002). A research has shown that there is quite a difference in couples that work together in their own business and couples who do not work together in own business. The couples that work together view business as a way of life and not as an income, the couples that do not work together view business as a way of income (Fitzgerald & Muske, 2002). Accordance to the research of Fitzgerald & Muske (2002) the financial success of couples working together in their own business seems to be lower than the ones who do not work together in one company.

2.4 Conceptual model

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3. Methodology

This section focuses in the method used to collect data in order to come to the results. Firstly, the plan on how to collect data will be described by applying the research process of Saunders et al. (2009). Secondly, an explanation of the case selection following the data collection procedure is discussed. At last the used method on analysing the data is described.

3.1 The layers of Research Design

Saunders et al. (2009) describe collection of data to be consisting of different layers. With each layer a choice has to be made about which methodology should be used. There are four layers: Research philosophy, Methodical choice, Strategy, Time horizon and, Techniques and procedures (Saunders et al., 2009).

Figure 2 – Layers of research onion (Saunders et al., 2009) Research philosophy

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16 collecting rich insights. It is about value from small samples and in-depth investigation. Especially for this research, the required data could be sensitive information for individuals to share. Therefore in order to get less biased information, the environment and time is important when collecting the data. The environment can influence the information given to the researcher. This explorative research can be done through collecting qualitative data by analysing extensive interviews. As mentioned, sensitive information is required, which is difficult to obtain through questionnaires.

Approach

This research is explorative, due to the scarce information about well-being and profiles of entrepreneurs and spouses. There is some scarce information, however some of the data used is from around the 90s. In that time, the circumstances were different and therefore expected not to be applicable nowadays. This will incline for an inductive approach. However it is not an un-researched field, which means that there is some literature to be found to give this research a structure. With the existing literature, propositions can be made which might incline for a deductive approach. According to Saunders et al. (2009) it is often advantageous to combine the two approaches. Therefore, provisionally propositions will be set to give this research and the in-depth interview some structure.

Strategies

In order to have a good understanding of individuals the strategy case study will be employed. As mentioned an in-depth interview will be used to obtain valuable information, which can be gathered by conducting a case study. In order to know if the findings of one case also occurs in other cases a multiple case study will be conducted. By conducting a multiple case study, the researcher will be able to draw a single set of cross-case conclusions by selecting similar results of different cases. At the end of the study there might be findings that challenge existing theories and even might develop theories for new research question.

Choices

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17 extensive interviews. For obtaining information about their personality, an existing questionnaire is used to determine the personality of the interviewee. Using an existing questionnaire increases the reliability. The existing questionnaire is called the Big Five personality test. For this test every question you need to answer is by giving a digit between 1 till 5, one as in not applicable and five as very applicable. Since this existing personality test is used, the choice of mixed-method research technique is used. Time horizon

This research is time constrained and therefore it is studying a particular phenomenon at a particular time. This means that the time horizon is a cross-sectional one. In-depth interviews will be conducted over a short period of time.

Techniques and procedures

For this research entrepreneurs will be selected on four criteria. Firstly, they need to be married in order to make it possible gain information about the influence of the spouse. Secondly, it must be possible to interview the entrepreneur and spouse separately in order to get less biased answers. Thirdly, the business of the entrepreneur should at least exist for over three years and have employees. Lastly, because the Netherlands is considered to be highly ethnically diverse and highly multicultural, which can lead to insignificant results, the Chinese community of the Netherlands has been selected to interview. The choice has also been based on the background of the researcher, which is Chinese. The Chinese community is the fifth largest non-Western immigrant group in the Netherlands. They are considered to be quite invisible, unthreatening and integrated in the Netherlands (Gijsberts, Huijnk & Vogels, 2011).

In order to identify the entrepreneurs who fit to those criteria, the Internet is used. Also existing networks will be approached in order to find random entrepreneurs who fit the criteria. Accordance to Eisenhardt (1989), the number of cases that will work well is between 4 and 10 cases. For this research six couples will be chosen to interview, which means in total 12 in-depth interviews. Having more couples will make it difficult to cope with the amount of data.

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18 both of the couple to cooperate. And in order to have a diverse sample group it was difficult to be selective. A promise has been made to keep their identity private. Table 1 shows some information about the participating couples.

Table 1 – Participant list

Couple Gender Age Industry Occupation Location

1 Male 55 Hospitality

(restaurant) Co-entrepreneur/ Chef Raalte

1 Female 49 Hospitality

(restaurant)

Co-entrepreneur/

Waitress Raalte

2 Male 33 Retail (clothing store) Co-entrepreneur/ Sales

men Zwolle

2 Female 32 Retail (clothing store) Co-entrepreneur/

Purchaser Zwolle

3 Male 43 Hospitality (hotel) Co-entrepreneur/

Receptionist Amsterdam

3 Female 39 Hospitality (hotel) Co-entrepreneur Amsterdam

4 Male 52 Retail Co-entrepreneur Amsterdam

4 Female 53 Retail Co-entrepreneur Amsterdam

5 Female 31 Health care

(acupuncture) Entrepreneur Leiden

5 Male 31 Hospitality (hotel) Entrepreneur Amsterdam

6 Female 33 Diverse Entrepreneur Utrecht

6 Male 34 Law Tax-lawyer Amsterdam

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19 Table 2 – Results of personality test

Coupl e Wife/ husban d Opennes s Conscientiou s Extraversio n Agreeablenes s Neuroticis m 1 W 20 74 74 57 27 1 H 0 74 42 87 9 2 W 5 79 86 83 4 2 H 3 83 31 57 11 3 W 2 21 70 44 43 3 H 10 86 89 57 37 4 W 5 69 48 50 55 4 H 7 46 74 63 5 5 W 12 83 27 74 7 5 H 5 69 48 79 14 6 W 65 89 42 69 1 6 H 12 69 53 50 32

The interview questions were about the following subjects: background, personality, and role of spouse. These are derived from literature review. The literature review is mainly based on scientific articles and online news articles. The subjects are a guideline for the in-depth interview, which means that the interview is structured. A semi-structured interview makes it possible for the researcher to deal with predetermined topics and provides the possibility to discover new information. It can also give more depth in the answers and gives more flexibility to ask additional questions. The spouse and entrepreneur will get similar questions in order to validate the information given. Due to the fact that the nationality of the interviewee is Dutch, the interview will be held in Dutch as well. This will enhance the openness of the interviewee and make them feel more at ease. However, Chinese is used for when they don’t understand the question. In order to control for possible biases the questions will be neutral and in case of probing, the interviewer will not direct the interviewee. Additionally, the interview will be audio recorded and transcribed afterwards (appendix E).

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4. Results

This section shows the research results. For each couple an individual case analysis is conducted, in order to become more familiar with the couple. Each individual will be separately analysed and the profile of the couple will be put in a model. The outline of this research will be followed for each analysis, which consists of the following main subjects: background, personality, and role of spouse. This accelerates the cross-case comparison (Eisenhardt, 1989) by allowing the researcher to become well informed of the specifics of each couple. It also sorts the information in order to be more workable for comparison. Afterwards a cross analysis and conclusion between the couples takes place.

4.1 Couple 1

Entrepreneur (Husband)

Background: He is born in 1959 and grew up in China. He moved to the Netherlands at the age of 18, because his parents and other relatives moved as well. “My grandfather came to the Netherlands to sell peanut cookies. Later on my grandfather went back to China and my father started a restaurant in the Netherlands. My two brothers and I came to the Netherlands. My other brother and sister went to France due to age.” The entrepreneur is the fourth child in his family.

He did not have a specific education, however he did finish his secondary school in China. When he came to the Netherlands he took a short Dutch language course. He worked in the kitchen of the restaurant of his father in Raalte. Around the age of 22 he built a restaurant together with a friend in Twello. This business was very successful. The reason he wanted to start something of his own is: “I did not want to work for my farther forever, I wanted to have more freedom, money and do what I want. And I got a good opportunity to start a restaurant with a good friend, which I seized.” This was not difficult, because he already learned the skills through working for his father and for financial resources they had lend some money.

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21 shortly discussed it. We need to build a future together.” After he got married with her in China, he brought her to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands they started to work in Twello directly. He worked as a waiter and she as a bartender. 3-4 years later their first son was born. His wife moved to Raalte in order to get help with raising their son from his parents. Not long after his wife moved to Raalte, he stepped out and together with his brother he took over the restaurant of his father in Raalte. After 2 years his brother got married and also stepped out to start his own business and therefore his wife became his business partner.

He has three boys, the eldest is 29, the middle is 27 and the youngest is 18. Having children did change the way of running their business. When having their first son, the wife moved to his parents. This has led to leaving his business in Twello and taking over the business of his father. “…around and during work we need to take care of the children too. However it was not disturbing. My mother came often to help us taking care of the children. For the youngest we hired a nanny.”

Personality: When meeting with the entrepreneur, I have noticed that he was very energetic. He seems to be an honest, traditional and a hardworking man. When taking the result of the personality test, he did score high on the conscientiousness test, which according to Solomon and Jackson (2014) is a good trait of a spouse.

When he got married he mentioned that he expected his wife to help him with his business and also to raise children with. He got what he expected from his wife. Now she is also co-entrepreneur of his business and they divided tasks: “ …I am standing in the kitchen and do the administration, my wife does the restaurant, take away and more the raising of the children.”. When asking about compatibility he mentions that he thinks they are compatible. However, he mentioned that he and his wife has arguments about investments. In other words, she likes to buy certain things to improve the appearance of the restaurant, which he thinks is not relevant. He even mentioned: “Sometimes I think that my wife is more entrepreneurial than I am.” He also mentioned that there is a small mentality difference: “I am more of a village person and my wife a city person.”. Both have a different view: “But we always find a middle ground. Thus we make the best choice.”.

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22 generation.” This statement shows that he has more of family interest, because he mentions that he want to build something for the next generation. Asking about his happiness with scale from 1 to 5 he gave a 5. He is doing what he likes to do and he is not someone who worries that much.

Role of spouse: As mentioned, he found a wife in China and expected her to work in his business. This is what she did. In the beginning he and his wife had many work related quarrels. “…because she is used to a whole other life and culture in comparison to here in the Netherlands, which she did not know. However when time passed by, it changed. Now we have a stable, good relationship. Few quarrels, but a lot of working. In the beginning they worked together, he as waiter and she as bartender. “After having a child it became more difficult, because my wife and child moved to Raalte in order to get help of my parents for nurturing. Therefore, I stepped out of the partnership in Twello and went to Raalte. In Raalte I took over the restaurant. Because it was a takeover, and I had already worked there, it was easy.”

During the years there have been some developments in Raalte. He has been in three locations, first one was too small, and therefore they moved to a bigger location. Later on the municipality tore down the second restaurant, so they had to build their current third restaurant. The business is going well. The wife is working in the restaurant and the husband in the kitchen. “We have less cost compared to 10 years ago. We have bought the building and have less external personnel.” “Through the years restaurant business is getting less. Most of the people go out to dinner in big cities and not in a village. Therefore we need less personnel. Also my children are now older and can work for us.”

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23 Spouse (wife)

Background: She is born in China in 1965. She moved to the Netherlands at age of 18, due to marriage. She married a man who lives and has a business in the Netherlands. “In that time going to Europe means a better life. My father really wanted for me to go to Europe.” Because she went to the Netherlands at the age of 18, she did not study in China.

She did finish her secondary education in China. She got one older sister and one younger brother, which mean that she is the middle child. Her father was an important official in her city in China, and her mother was a housewife. “…if I would have stayed, I also would become an official.” When she came here in the Netherlands she directly started working for her husband, however she did not have any work experience at all. She started to work together with her husband in the restaurant in Twello.“…I have never worked before. My husband and I had many quarrels because I did everything wrong.” First she started as a bartender, and then she slowly moved up and could also serve guests as waitress.

A few years later she and her husband moved to Raalte. “My husbands brother moved to Hardenberg start his own business and my father-in-law whished that everyone had their own business, so he asked us to go back to Raalte in order for us to takeover the restaurant together with his younger brother. A few years later, the younger brother of my husband bought a restaurant in Almelo, which meant that we are now the only owners of the business. Nowadays she is the co-owner of the business. She does the takeaway and on busy days she helps in the kitchen. “Due to personnel shortage. I used to have no knowledge of the kitchen, but now I do.”

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24 youngest in the weekends. “Our children are already old enough, so we do not have to worry about them.”

Personality: My first impression of the spouse is that she is quite lively and seems honest. She really likes to talk positively about her family and history. The result of the personality test shows that she scored high on conscientiousness, which according to Solomon and Jackson (2014) is a good trait of a spouse.

She mentioned that when she got married and came to the Netherlands, she often had conflicts with her husband. “We had a lot of quarrels due to difference in mentality and because I made a lot of mistakes at the beginning. Nowadays he works only in the kitchen. So we have less quarrels.” It does not matter for her if she needs to work together with her husband or separate: “As long as we can earn money.”. The question about compatibility she answered: “Of course we do. We have the same mind-set for raising children and running a business.” Also she mentions that they do complement each other. “My husband does the kitchen and administration and I the front and the children.” She mentions that if they have quarrels it is often about cutting down on their business expenses. “I do not think that you should cut down on everything, but sometimes my husband thinks otherwise.”

Her life goal is: “That my children get married and successful.” which shows that she has more family interest. However, she mentions that she needs to work hard to earn money to make the lives of their children easier in order to fulfil her goal. Her youngest child is 18 years old, so it should take a while before she can full fill her goal. When asking her about happiness, she gave a 5. “What should I be unhappy about? I can do whatever I want.” “ I have everything I want and I don’t have any setbacks. So I cannot complain.”

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25 restaurant. However nowadays she also goes into the kitchen to help out, when needed, due to personnel shortage. “I used to not know anything about the work in the kitchen, but now I do.” She does mention that she is only a helping hand, not a cook. “…I only help with refilling and serving. Cooking in large quantities is too heavy for me.” Due to the personnel shortage, she mentions that her husband needs to work many hours. However, he is a very hardworking man and therefore he is very happy that he may work and earn money.

Due to the hard work of Chinese restaurant they invested in a hotel for the future together with her brother-in-laws. “A hotel is easier for my children to take over if they would. Restaurant work is hard work and you are too depended on the kitchen staff. This is difficult for the children nowadays. A hotel is easier.”

She mentions that they have a fair distribution of responsibilities. “We have discussed the distribution of responsibility together. Now our children are old enough, so we do not need to worry about them.” When they were little, she mostly took care of the children. “I have raised them on my own, only for the youngest we have hired a nanny. That is why his Chinese is less compared to my other children.” Workwise, she is working in the restaurant together with her eldest son, and her husband in the kitchen. Couple profile

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26 The second son is running the hotel with other family members. The entrepreneur, the wife and their oldest son are managing the restaurant.

As can be seen on figure 3, there were several conflicts. In the beginning the wife did not have any work experience, which led to quarrels between them. It can be said that their different family background could be the cause. Fortunately they had the same life goal and the wife was willing to adapt to the environment she was in. They used to work very closely together, however now less. She works in the restaurant and the entrepreneur in the kitchen. Both their businesses seem to be quite successful.

Figure 3 – Profile of couple 1

4.2 Couple 2

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27 Netherlands he studied to become a car mechanic and learned the Dutch language. In the weekends he worked at a Chinese restaurant. “ … I have only worked in restaurants and after my study I have worked for a car company for a few years. So I worked with cars.” When he was a car mechanic, he also worked part-time at restaurants. After he got married, he and his wife decided to start their own business. His motivation: “to earn more money and be able to make my own decisions.” The idea to open a clothing shop was due to a friend. “A good friend had a clothing shop and I and my wife decided to do that as well. So to start for our own.” Therefore, the reason for them to open a clothing shop was imitating the successful business of their friend. When a business is successful, Chinese people will often follow. “Family and friends share experiences and help with financing. This often takes place in the Chinese culture.” “…me and my wife have gained work experience by working at my friends place…”

His expectation for his business was that it became successful. “We have confidence that that will be the case.” However, when asking him about how their business is going he mentioned that it was okay. “…only in our surrounding businesses are bankrupt or moved away. Apart from that it goes well. It can always be better of course. If economically goes bad, our business will be less as well.” Compared to when they started their shop, the amount of visitors and revenue has declined a bit. He mentioned that they decreased approximately one third of their visitors and revenue. However, he has confidence that it will be better. When asking if it was better compared to when they did not have their own business, he mentions that they are financially better and have more free time than before. He has two children. “Girl is almost 7 years old and boy almost 5 years old.” It seems that it is not difficult for them to have children and an own business. “Our daughter was 2 when we started our business. My wife was at that moment also pregnant from our son.” Fortunately, they had help with raising their children. “My mother looks after our children. However every evening we see them. We do not need to worry about them.”

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28 His expectations for when he got married with his wife were: “ to have a happy and successful life together.” This seems to be case, because he seems to be happy with his private life and they have a successful business together. When asking about the relationship with his wife, he mentions that they have a good relationship. Sometimes they have arguments. “Often disagreements about our business.” So it increased since they have their own business. “Now we are together all the time in our shop, there is more chance to get arguments.” They used to never have arguments, because they barely saw each other. When asking about compatibility he mentions that based on feelings they are compatible. In overall he is happy, and very content with his life. “I am happy with everything. Family and work and stuff. And we did not encounter bad things. I do expect more in the future.” When asking to scale his happiness from 1 to 5 he mentioned 4. His expectations for life are more about business success. “For my private life I am already content.” When asking the question do you like your job, he answered yes but also: “I don’t mind if I just make money.”

Role of spouse: As mentioned, when he got married he expected to have a happy successful life together with his wife. His wife is now the mother of his two children. Also he and his wife are proud owners of a clothing shop. They both work daily in the shop. “I do the bookkeeping and my wife often order the stock.” There is a reason for this work division. “I am better with numbers. We sell women’s clothes, and because my wife is a woman, she can do that better.” Setting up their business they had no difficulties. “It went easy. Me and my wife have gained work experience by working at my friends place and so we know how everything should go.” They also did not have problems with financing. “We both saved up some money. However we also have lent some money from our friends.” This loan they have already paid back.

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29 bring them to school.” They also do not need to worry about housekeeping. “My mother does the household nowadays.”

Entrepreneur (Wife)

Background: She is born in 1983 and grew up in China. When she was 17 years old, she came to the Netherlands by herself. “My parents and brother are in China. My brother did not want to come to the Netherlands. He finds it here too much hard work. However all of my friends did came to Europe. I also wanted to go.” Because she got the chance to come to the Netherlands, she did not finish her secondary education in China. “I did finish secondary education in the Netherlands. “

Her parents were making clothes in China. She helped them often when she was in China. “In China I helped my parents with their work when needed. Such as sowing shoes and sowing clothes.” When she went to school, she worked in a restaurant. “I have only worked in Chinese restaurant after school hours.” However, she did not pursue restaurant business. “Restaurant work was hard work, which I am tired of. Also I hardly saw my children when I had a full-time restaurant job. And because we had a friend in the clothing shop business who has given us the idea.” This was a good idea, because she already had some knowledge about it. “When I was little I learned a lot of things. So it is easy for me to do something like this.” Another reason for her to start her own business is: “I want to be able to earn more and I want to see my children more often. With working for others you have fixed loan and long working days, especially with a restaurant life. Being your own boss, you have more to say and you can set your own time. I also want to be able to raise my children. Now I am much more often home and can learn them things such as how you should behave and what you can or cannot do.”

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30 Personality: When meeting with the entrepreneur, I have noticed that she was quite talkative and open. She seems to be an honest and positive woman. When taking the result of the personality test, she did score high on the conscientiousness, which according to Solomon and Jackson (2014) is a good trait of a spouse.

When she married her husband, she did not have any specific expectations only: “Living happily together.” She mentioned that she and her husband have a good relationship. She also mentioned that she is very content with her life. “I feel like everything is going well. There are no problems so I am content.” When asking her what should happen to become happier she mentioned: “I am already very content with what I have. If I have less or more, I don’t mind.”

She says that they are compatible. “My husband is good with numbers and I am good with other stuff. Such as repairing clothing.” Now that they are working together, their relationship has changed. He is not only her husband, but also her business partner. “We used to see each other not that much and therefore we never fought. However now we are 24 hours together, so we often have fights. I often get angry, then he will leave me alone until I cool down and then we can discuss further. Every small mistake can lead to irritations.” Asking her about her life goal she answered healthy and happy life. When asking if business was a part of her life goal she mentioned: “Yes a part of it, but it is not the most important one. I find it more important to be happy. Money is not that important to me. If we can live of it, then I am very content. I am a simple person.” When asking her to scale her happiness from 1 to 5, she mentions 4.

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31 She finds that there is a fair distribution of household labour. “I do the household work. If there is something then me and my husband will do it together.” For taking care of the children, she has her parents-in-law. “My parents-in-law takes care of my children, but on our day off me and my husband take the children to go out.” She mentioned that there is a difference between grandparents and parents. And she also mentioned: “For example my daughter listens very carefully to me. Everything I say she listens. My son on the other hand is different. With him it takes more time for him to listen to me. Couple profile

Figure 4 shows the profile of couple 2 with its several features. It is notable that they started their business together. They are both born and raised in China and their age gap is 1-year. The parents of the husband are in the Netherlands, but the parents of the wife are not. The husband has a higher education compared to the wife. However for their business, the education of the husband was not applicable but the work experience of the wife is, which is sowing. However for opening a clothing store, they both lacked information. They gained the information with the help of their friend. Thanks to their friend, they had no problems with opening their business. However, the couple was not used to be together that often and it was the first time they worked together. Because they were suddenly working together 24/7, it caused irritation. However, they mention that it is normal and that they don’t mind. Both of them scored quite high in contentiousness and mentioned that they are compatible. However looking at their life goal, it seems that the wife puts the focus on family and the husband on business. On the other hand the husband did mention that he is content about his family and therefore he is focussing on his business. The wife mentioned that she is already very content about her life. The husband hopes for more business success. Their business is good, but less than the previous years. They work 6 days in a week. For taking care of their children, they have their parents to look after them.

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32 they are used to working together and there is also a clear work division. As mentioned their life goal differs. The husband is not entirely content with their business and the wife is. However this does not seem to be a problem, because they are both committed to their work and family. Also they both scored high on conscientiousness and agreeableness but low on neuroticism therefore they are reliable, supportive and remain calm.

Figure 4 – Profile of couple 2

4.3 Couple 3

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33 they both worked in a Chinese restaurant.” He has one sister and one older and one younger brother. When he came to the Netherlands he went to an international transfer school. Afterwards he finished his secondary education. After a year and a half his father bought a restaurant. “I was 15 years old when I helped my father with his business.” After his secondary education he followed a self-study program about hospitality and trade knowledge. “I did this after work, which is in the evening. This does not exist anymore. Because of this I was able to get my business owner certificate.” His childhood dream was to become a police officer, but when he had his internship at a police office he did not like it at all. That made him pursue hospitality and at the age of 21 he decided to take over his father’s restaurant. “It went well and we had a good name. I really liked to serve and I was very excited to become my own boss.” “That was the future. That is what I always wanted.” After 6 years he got married and his wife came working in his business. However, they had problems with their personnel, and while the business was getting better and better, the workload and problems increased. The brother of his wife, who owns a successful hotel, advised them to go into the hotel business, so they did. This went less smoothly, but now he is pleased with it. “Now I have much more time for the children and myself than before.” He has 2 children, a boy who is 17 years old and a daughter who is 15 years old.

Personality: When meeting with the entrepreneur, I have noticed that he was very energetic and likes to laugh. He also seems to be an honest, traditional and a hardworking man. He seemed to be busy all the time. When taking the result of the personality test, he did score high on conscientiousness, which according to Solomon and Jackson (2014) is a good trait of a spouse.

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34 is a part of a relationship.” “Having a fight is a big word. It is more of a disagreement. Often about little things such as investments or how work is performed.”

When asking about his life goal, he mentioned that it was difficult for him to mention one. “…I would like to expand to the city centre.” He did not mention family because it is not needed. “I am content. And my children can do what they like to do. I do not expect them to take over the business. That is something which they can decide by themselves.” Therefore, it can be said that he has more business interest. When asking about his happiness with scale from 1 to 5 he mentions a 4. He would like to fulfil some wishes. When this is fulfilled, then he will be a 5.

Role of spouse: As mentioned, he expected his wife to help him with his business and to make his business successful. According to him she did live up to his expectations. While the business was getting better they had to cope with staff problems. It was hard to handle for them. Because the brother of his wife was in the hotel business, he advised them to do that as well. So they did. However, they lacked knowledge and finances. “First we have worked for a month at the hotel of my brother-in-law. It was difficult to get used to it. And for finances we have loaned money from the bank and family.” At the beginning there were problems with the previous owner, however eventually it all turned out fine. He is very satisfied over his business. “It is better than what I expected. We even have more rooms and more revenue. We also have more experience now. So it is going well. The first half year it was difficult. But now it is not. Now I have much more time for the children and myself than before.” He sees his business as successful due to investments he made, which had led to good results.

He works every day. “During the week form 08:00 till 15:00. I work at the reception and send mails and fix problems. In the weekends I work from 08:00 till 22:00 in the evening. After work I go home and then I have some time for my family and myself. It is totally different compared to restaurant. With the hotel you have more freedom.” At home he does the cooking and his wife washes the dishes, which is a fair distribution according to him. He does not need to worry or take care of the children anymore. “Children are old enough to take care of themselves.” For work they have also a fair distribution. “I do the reception and administration and she does the breakfast and housekeeping.”

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35 Background: She is born in 1975 in China and she came to the Netherlands at the age of 10. “My parents and brothers were already in the Netherlands, so I followed them.” Her parents went to the Netherlands to earn money. “They had a restaurant here in the Netherlands.” She found it kind of weird, she did not know what she could expect. “But when I think back I do not have any regrets.” So her parents were entrepreneurs. Her father worked in the kitchen and her mother in the restaurant. “They were always working, nothing else. Now they are retired.” She has two older brothers, so she was the youngest.

When she came to the Netherlands, she finished primary school and afterwards tried secondary education but she quit and started to work at the restaurant of her parents. When she got married she started to work at the restaurant of her husband. “It is the same as what I did at home. Same restaurant life.” However, afterwards due to staff problems she liked it less. They decided to do something else because restaurant work became too hard and time-consuming. They stepped over to a hotel. Now she is co-owner and manages the breakfast and the house-keeping. She has 2 children, her daughter is 15 years old and her son is 17 years old.

Personality: My first impression of the spouse is that she was an honest and relaxed person. At first she was a bit reserved with her answers, but this quickly changed. The result of the personality test shows that she scored high on conscientiousness, which according to Solomon and Jackson (2014) is a good trait of a spouse.

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36 about if she and her husband complement each other she mentions that when having discussions they always talk it out. “… but usually there will be a mediocre solution.” She gave an example about that her husband wants a new car and she does not think that that is a good idea. “However I always have a good story to get my way. But I often do have a good solution. It is not that I do not want to fulfil his wishes. No it is not.” Her life goal is to be happy and successful. “The feeling of being happy and that my family is healthy and successful. With successful I mean for the business to go well.” The emphasis seems to be more on her, therefore it can be said that she has more family interest. When asking about her happiness by using scale of 1 to 5, she gave a 5. “I have what I want now. It came true. Therefore a 5.”

Role of spouse: The fact that she was marrying an entrepreneur was neither a positive or negative thing for her. She mentioned that it is nice but she is not clamouring for it. “When you think ahead, it makes it easier.” She already had enough knowledge about working in a restaurant before she married her husband. Therefore, it was easy for her to help him with his business. Now they are in the hotel business due to problems and hassle with staff of the restaurant. “It was hard work. We never had time. We were tired of it and were looking for something new.” The idea to switch over to hotel business was of her brother. “They switched earlier from restaurant to hotel. They liked it. He helped us with the search and with setting up.” In the beginning it was much to getting used to. “You had different times. And because we lent a lot of money, we did a lot of work by ourselves, which made it hard. But now we have repaid everything, so it is not needed anymore.” Hotel was a much bigger investment than restaurant, which was kind of scary. “I found it very exciting because it was totally different. But I would not want to go back to restaurant.” With hotel you have less problems with staff. When asking about support, she mentions that they support each other very well.

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37 take care of their own. When they were little, they had a nanny or a one of their parents who looked after them.

Couple profile

Figure 5 shows the profile of couple 3 with its several features. It is notable that the entrepreneur started with his business and when he got married he expected his spouse to support him, which she did. The age gap between them is 4 years and both of them came from an entrepreneurial family. Therefore, it was easy for the spouse to adapt herself to the environment of the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur has a higher education than the spouse. Nowadays they changed their business, due to personnel problem. This was difficult to get used to, but now it is just as successful as their previous business. The brother of the spouse brought them to the idea and also helped them with gaining some experience. The couple mentioned that they are compatible however, there are some differences, such as food taste. Also it seems that their life goal is different. The entrepreneur is more focussed on their business and the spouse more on family. They work 7 days a week as their previous business, but different hours. They used to have a nanny or their parents to look after the children, but this is not needed anymore. According to the couple the children can take care of themselves.

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38 Figure 5 – Profile of couple 3

4.4 Couple 4

Background: He was born in China in the year 1962. His father died when he was 10 years old. He sees him as his role model. “I did not know him that well, but I can remember that he was a hard worker. We lived in the countryside were many poor people and beggars are. My father helped them by teaching them stuff so they can earn money instead of begging.” At the age of 18 he came to the Netherlands. “I came to the Netherlands because back then there were more chances compared to China.” He came alone to Netherlands, however his siblings were already in the Netherlands. Most of them went back to China eventually. He still has one brother here in the Netherlands and one brother in Spain. In total he has 4 brothers and 2 sisters. He is the second youngest in his family.

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39 here in the Netherlands. He was an entrepreneur. I did not have any education, so I have learned the profession chef-cook from my uncle.” His uncle was therefore his example for wanting his own business. Due to his uncle’s health he took over his successful restaurant together with his wife. Now he has turned his restaurant into a warehouse, and together with wife and children they were able to expand it. Now they have 3 warehouses and they are growing on a yearly basis. He used to work in the kitchen, now he is working in the warehouse. He has two children. “A daughter and a son. Both are above 20 years old.” Having children did not change the way they run their business.

Personality: The entrepreneur seems to be a happy person. He also seems honest and a hardworking man. When taking the result of the personality test, he did score mediocre on conscientiousness, which according to Solomon and Jackson (2014) being conscientious is a good trait of a spouse.

His expectation of his wife was that she would help him to realize his goal. That goal has been realized. They decided together to take over the business of his uncle. “We agreed that we could achieve our goal by having our own business.” He mentions that he has a good relationship with his wife. “Sometimes I can be a bit lazy, but my wife makes sure that I am not. Sometimes she is too serious.” So they do complement each other. He mentions that their relationship has not changed over the years. When asking about his life goal, he mentions that he does not have a life goal. However, if he should name one then: “… that my children stay happy and successful and that our business keeps running well.” With this statement it can be said that he has more family interest. He is very happy about his life. When asking about his happiness using scale 1 to 5 he gave a 5. “I have a good relationship, my kids are successful and we have a successful business.”

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40 hostess then and he chef-cook. They did have all the knowledge, which was needed. “Finances was the most important one. And because my wife and I come from a big family, we could count on their support. Also we both have knowledge of the restaurant life. My wife used to work at the restaurant of her parents.” Now he has turned his restaurant into a warehouse, and together with his wife and children they were able to expand it. The idea to change his business emerged during their vacation in Spain. “…we saw that the well-known 100pesos shop had many shops there. So in agreement with the whole family we decided to open a similar shop in the Netherlands. He mentions that it was quite exciting to change his business into a warehouse. In the beginning they were quite worried about it, however this disappeared. “My wife and I knew that entrepreneurship would be risky, but that did not stop us.” They did not have any knowledge about such shop, however with the help of his children it worked out. “For knowledge we had our children. Due to computers, laws and stuff. So they were deeply involved with starting the business. Now they are still involved to keep the business running.” Now they got 3 shops and they are growing on a yearly basis. His relationship with his wife is good. According to him their relationship has not changed. “We always did it like this. I do not think that there has been any changes through the years.” He thinks that he should do more household work, but when he does his wife finds that he did not do it well enough. Also he mentioned: “I am sometimes lazy, but my wife makes sure that I am not. Sometimes she is too serious.”. Entrepreneur (Wife)

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41 When asking her about a role model she mentioned her grandmother. “She had a great heart. When I was little, I always saw how she helped people in the village. Her sister died at an early age. So she took the care of her children on her own.” When she got married, her husbands’ uncle wanted to sell his restaurant. So she and her husband took over the restaurant. That was very normal at that time. “When you have finances, you start a business. And often it is in hospitality branch.” Later they changed their business into a shop. “Previously we had a Chinese Indonesian restaurant. That became too heavy for my husband. Now we have a few shops that are compatible with an Action or a Big Bazar.” She sees her business as successful. Even though our branch is not going well, yearly we import more and more. We keep on getting better results.” After they took over the restaurant she got two children, a daughter and a son. She mentions that having children did not cause many change. “Only we took more free time for the children. Also my sister in-law came as an au-pair to take care of my children when I needed to work.”

Personality: My first impression of the spouse is that she seems to be a hard working woman. She also seems to be quite happy. When looking at her result of the personality test, it shows that she scored relatively high on conscientiousness, which according to Solomon and Jackson (2014) is a good trait of a spouse.

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42 Role of spouse: After she married her husband, they took over the restaurant of the uncle of her husband. She mentioned that it was relatively easy for them to take over the business of her husbands’ uncle due to her previous experience. “I have always worked for my parents in their restaurant, so I knew a lot of it. Because of this I did not do anything else. I only knew the restaurant life of my parents here in the Netherlands. I did not work anywhere else or done any education.” Financially it was also possible for them to take over the business of his uncle in those days. “When you have finances, you start a business.”

There was a clear division of labour. She was the hostess and did the administration, and her husband managed the kitchen and did the purchases. However, even though they work separately they discuss everything together. She even mentioned that they were very important for each other. Now they renovated their restaurant into a store, because the restaurant workload became too much for her husband. They are still having their own business because they are used to having their own business. “My parents have also done it this way. And since I am together with my husband we also do the same.”

When asking her about household, she mentions that they have a fair division of household work. “My husband does all sorts of chores at home and I do more housekeeping.” For raising the children they do it together as well. However she also mentions that their children are already old enough to make their own decisions. When the children were younger her sister-in-law came to the Netherlands as an au pair to the help her with raising the children when she was busy working.

Couple profile

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43 the husband. The personality test confirms this as well. The results of the test show that they are quite different from each other. However, they do have the same goal in life, which is family focussed. Also they mentioned that they are happy with their lives. As can be seen on figure 6, there are some conflicts. The wife has her whole family in the Netherlands, and her parents were entrepreneurs. The husband on the other hand lost his father at a young age, and his uncle was his only example here in the Netherlands. This might explains the difference between them (wife more serious than the husband). However, they see this as complementing each other, he becomes more serious, she more loose. It seems that the wife does more household work than the husband. The husband mentioned that he feels guilty about it, but the wife does not mind it. This is in line with the result of the personality test, which shows that the wife scored high and the husband low on conscientiousness. They work together in the same business, but they do not see each other all the time.

An investigation on the well-being of entrepreneurs and their spouses in the Netherland.